Located on the East coast of Spain, Valencia has a lot to offer for those looking for a long weekend away. With a charming Old Town, excellent food, buzzing nightlife and a beach just a short metro ride away, there is something for everyone in this city!
- Currency: Euro
- Local time: GMT +1
- Language: Spanish
Stay: Expo Hotel
The Expo Hotel in Valencia is in a great location for exploring the city; within walking distance of Old Town and also with easy access to the Metro for trips to the beach or the hip Russufa district.
The rooftop here steals the show, with a large swimming pool, plenty of sun loungers and a bar selling local drinks and excellent burgers. It’s the perfect place to spend some time relaxing after strolling the streets of the city.
Do: Botanical Gardens, City of Arts and Sciences, Eat Tapas, Explore El Carmen, Turia Park
Although it would be easy to spend the entire time just eating and drinking your way around the city, Valencia has lots to see and do, so put on some comfy shoes and get exploring!
On the edge of the city – just a short walk from the Expo Hotel – there are lovely Botanical Gardens that are definitely worth a visit. Home to many of Valencia’s stray cats, along with (of course) a fascinating array of plants and flowers, it’s a great place to wander around and take a pause from the busy city streets. If green spaces are your thing, also set aside some time to stroll the Turia Park, which runs around the city centre and is build in an old river bed.
The City of Arts and Sciences is a huge complex that is home to the Valencia Opera House, the Museum of Science, an Oceanographic and a Hemispheric, plus lots of events taking place throughout the year. Tickets can be purchased in advance for individual attractions or in bundles if you want to visit more than one and save money. Hop on the Metro and you can reach this area within 10 minutes from the central city.
Technically, ‘sample the tapas’ should be under the eat heading, but it really is a way of life here and so it’s made it to the list of things to do! Many places, for small side street cafes to large restaurants serve tapas all day, and you will rarely see empty seats outside the cafes in the summer. Add a jug of Agua De Valencia (cava, orange juice, vodka and gin) to your order and watch the world go by while picking at some lovely fresh nibbles.
The neighbourhood of El Carmen should definitely be on your list to explore. A maze of small winding streets that are covered in amazing street art and murals and are home to some of the best backstreet bars and cafes that we found on our trip. The more lost you get, the better!
Eat: Bar Cordellats, El Rall, Restaurante San Miguel, La Chipirona
There are SO many amazing places to eat in the city that these really are just a selection of restaurants for inspiration more than anything.
One this that we did notice was that a lot of restaurants offer a ‘menu of the day’ – some for lunch and some for dinner – but they were always excellent value and really tasty food. One of the best upmarket menus of the day we did was a lunchtime menu at La Chipirona. Fresh fish is huge here, and while the starters come in meze form to share, for main there were three dishes to choose between. We went for the local fish/rice dish and were definitely not disappointed!
For a quick lunch stop thats guaranteed to fill you up, grab a Bocadillo (a Spanish type of sandwich) at Bar Cordellats. Located near the central market, this is a great place to stop if you are exploring the city centre in the day time.
One of the best paellas of the whole trip was had at El Rall, a permanently busy restaurant located in a small but charming square in El Carmen. We ordered the traditional Valencia paella along with two glasses of Agua de Valencia, and it was the best version of the drink we had too!
Drink: La Bella De Cadiz, Che Vins, El Carmen
Located in the trendy Russafa district is La Bella De Cadiz – a quirky cocktail bar with a huge variety of drinks. It’s a great place to go for some late drinks after dinner, as it stays open until 1.30am and 2pm on weekends!
Che Vins is the perfect place to stop for a glass of wine, and the owner was super knowledgable, talking through the various wines he had in stock and making recommendations based on what we usually liked drinking. We went for the wine of the day, which was served with some tapas on the side and was such a reasonable price.
There are lots of lovely local side street bars that can only be discovered by strolling the streets after dark. El Carmen is the perfect district for this, as it’s full of winding streets and neighbourhood locals.
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